Pushing the Limits
by MintCleaves
Summary: Muggle AU. In which Lily Evans goes undercover to find evidence against the gang who killed her son's father. The gang in question? The Marauders. The only problem is that there are only three people who know who the boss of the Marauders is: Remus Lupin, Sirius Black, and lastly: James Potter. Gang!AU
_**A/N: Oh God, is this an update I see? Yes. Yes. I understand it's been like a year, but I was talking today about a gang!AU and I just thought about how awesome it would be writing Jily. Anyway, I wanted to say, before anyone asked, that yes, I'm working on my other Jily fanfictions, and hopefully I'll have them up soon.**_

 ** _Also, gasp. Have you noticed the chapter length? This is like, double my usual length. Wahoo!_**

 ** _Hope you enjoy this new story! Please don't hesitate to leave a comment._**

 ** _Mint~_**

* * *

 _ **Act I.**_

* * *

"Harry…"

Leaning back in her car seat, Lily Evans gripped the steering wheel tightly, her knuckles white. Looking in the rear view mirror, she stared quietly at her eight year old son, Harry.

Staring sullenly out of the window, Harry turned at the voice of his mother. He didn't speak, instead lifting his eyes to meet hers in the mirror – emerald eyes staring into emerald. It seemed, Lily thought, to be the only thing that he'd inherited from her.

"I know you don't want to go in today…" Lily said, tapping on the wheel, "but you know that you've got to go to school."

Harry's jaw clenched, along with his hands into fists, but still he didn't say anything. Lily had been lucky enough to get him into his school uniform and out of the door – she wasn't about to force him out of his silence. Not when it would only make his mood worse.

"I know it's almost that day of the year, but we can't let it get the better of us, you know that."

Harry sighed, turning back to the window. He pushed his glasses up the rim of his nose, running a hand through his hair. When he spoke, it was in a whisper.

"Draco's going to laugh at me again. Like last year."

Lily pinched the rim of her nose. There were several phrases she could use to describe her son's classmate, but none of them positive. She'd sooner throttle the boy than sing him praise.

"Draco's a silly boy," Lily said, "and he's simply jealous of you. You know that. When he calls you a name, it's only because he's jealous."

Harry groaned, "he's not jealous. He thinks he's better than me."

Lily turned in her seat, letting go of the steering wheel to look at her son properly. His raven coloured hair was messy – like usual. In fact it was due a cut. Lily would have to book him in at the hairdressers.

"He's not better than you," She said, her voice stern, leaving no room for debate. Harry looked down, fidgeting in his seat.

Lily raised an eyebrow, "You know that he's no better than you, right?"

Harry looked up. He'd gone pale, almost as if he were having a panic attack. Lily braced herself for the moment his tears came – Harry had been having panic attacks for years.

"I don't know," Harry whispered. "At least Draco has a dad."

Lily sighed. She knew that it was difficult for her son, growing up without a father, but they were okay. They'd deal with the same way they had the past two years – together, and with weekly visits to the ice cream parlour two blocks from their apartment.

"I know it's rough," Lily said, smiling reassuringly, "but Draco doesn't understand anything. We get along just great, you and me, don't you think?"

Harry sighed. Usually, he didn't get so sad. Usually, the other kids didn't point out that Harry didn't have a dad. But kids, Lily knew, were cruel, and they normally brought up the subject every time their teachers reminded them they were going to make cards for father's day during art.

"I know," Harry said, running his hand through his hair again, "I just wish dad were here."

Lily reached forward, ruffling Harry's hair. With a sad smile, she whispered, "I do too."

.

As soon as Harry was in school – it took the promise of take-out pizza for dinner to get him out of the car – Lily drove to work. She was never completely over joyed to enter the work place, especially when it involved catching criminals, but she really liked when people got the justice they deserved.

Biting her lip, Lily rolled into the car park of the police station, letting out a small groan. She'd loved her job once, loved the idea of throwing the criminals into prison, as had her boyfriend, but the joy from it had faded when he'd died.

Or rather, when Harry's father had been murdered.

Locking her car behind her, Lily tossed her keys into her bag, walking across the car pack towards the main entrance. Her heels echoed against the floor, making Lily feel almost powerful as she made her way through the building to her desk.

She didn't even get the chance to sit down, before her partner – Alice Longbottom – grabbed her by the arm and pulled her towards the water cooler. They'd had a joke when they'd first started working together, that the water cooler was where everyone met to exchange gossip and since then, it had been their gossip zone.

"Lils," Alice said, once they were away from their desks. "I've got the best news."

Lily wasn't sure whether to feel excited or nervous. The last time Alice had claimed she had good news, it ended up with the pair in Las Vegas, unable to wonder whether the fake ring on Lily's hand was from a marriage ceremony or from one of the tourist shops.

"Alice…?" Lily said, smiling. It had been a year and a half since the Vegas, but she wasn't ready to relive the experience just yet.

"I wanted you to be the first one to know!" Alice said, pouring herself a cup of water, and taking a sip. Her words slurred together in excitement, "well, after Frank of course, and my parents, but not his because Frank's mother is always so cranky, but you're the first person at work to know and I just need to say the words but I can't–"

Lily held up a hand, and said, "Alice… What is it?"

Alice twirled a lock of her brown hair around her finger and smiled. She said, "Frank and I are going to have a baby."

It took a few moments for the words to register. Then, Lily's lips tugged upwards into a grin and she let out a small squeal. She said, "Oh God, Alice, I'm so happy for you!"

In the back of her mind, Lily found herself thinking that twenty-four was a reasonable age to have a child – Alice had been smart enough to plan. She wasn't like Lily, sixteen with a boyfriend who was only staying by her side because his parent's were practically forcing him to.

"I'm not that far along," Alice said, smiling, "and we found out at the end of last week, but I'm just so excited. My baby and Harry could be playmates!"

Lily said, "maybe," although she was pretty sure that Harry would want to play with a baby for any longer than ten minutes.

"Anyway, anyway," Alice said, pulling at her blouse, "we can't talk long, Alastor will start whining at us if we don't get to our desks. Although I'm going to have to ask you so much about what happened while you were pregnant with Harry because I just need someone to help me through all of this, you know?"

.

Alastor Moody, the chief of police, called Lily to his office half an hour into the work day. He opened the door to his office, barked her name and shuffled back indoors, stumbling forward with his cane. Lily, who had been writing up a case report on one of the most recent arson cases, clicked save on her file, backed it up, and then stalked into his office.

"Close the door behind you," Moody said, his voice rough like gravel. He wore a patch over his right eye – he'd lost it on a case, four years ago – and was slumped back in his chair. His desk was stacked with papers on either side, but he always made sure that he could see through the middle, with perfect view of the chairs on the other side of his desk.

"Sit down Evans," he said, waving a hand at one of the chairs. Lily took the right, somewhat hesitant to be on his blind side. His voice was like a deep rumble, but Lily didn't find it threatening like other people she knew.

"Sir?" Lily said, once she was sat down.

Moody leaned forward in his seat. His hair was patchy in places – he often pulled at it when he was stressed – and Lily could see scabs against his scalp. She didn't look away; when you worked on law enforcement you always made sure not to avoid things.

"Evans," Moody said, reaching for one of the files at the top of one of his piles, "I want you to take a look at this file."

Taking the file, Lily opened the folder. There were five photos, all pictures of a murder victim. Once, when she'd started working with the police, she'd thrown up at the pictures of murders, but now, all she felt was a queasy feeling, her stomach clenching at the sight of death.

"It's an ongoing case," Moody said, as Lily flipped through the pages, "I wanted to know whether you'd like to work it."

The victim was of a man – mid twenties, with blonde hair and glassy blue eyes. All dead bodies had glassy eyes, it was something they all had in common. He was plump, with a chain wrapped around his leg.

He'd drowned. Lily knew because that's what had happened to her boyfriend two years ago – she was looking at the same type of murder that had happened to her son's father.

"He was killed by the Marauders," Lily whispered. She didn't speak much of the group behind half the crime in London, but she knew of them. She knew that they sold drugs and were more than a petty gang.

Moody nodded. "We think so, yes. Not just because of the murder pattern. Take a look at his collar bone."

Lily did. On the right, there was a black outline of an animal – a rat. Biting her lip, Lily looked up, looking Moody in the eye.

"He was a member." She whispered. It was a requirement for every member of the Marauders to have the outline of an animal tattooed onto their collarbone. And he'd been a member.

"Yes," Moody said, "he was also an informant for Scotland Yard."

Pinching the rim of her nose, Lily let out a sigh. The marauders didn't usually kill people, but they seemed to make an exception for traitors and rats.

"That explains the tattoo," Lily whispered. "A rat, how fitting. It's almost as if it was always going to happen."

Moody let out a laugh that sounded like a growl. He said, "highly ironic yes. But no good for us. We don't have an inside man anymore."

Lily closed the file, passing it back to Moody. With a frown she said, "that's what you mean when you asked if I wanted in on this case. You want me to go undercover."

Moody nodded. He said, "It's totally up to you, but we want you in on this. You know a lot about the Marauders, you've always wanted to know more since… The murder."

Lily closed her eyes. She wanted to work the case – there was no doubt that she wanted justice against those who had killed her son's father – but she also needed to think about Harry. He'd already lost his dad because of the Marauders. She couldn't bear the thought of what would happen if he lost his mother too.

Not to mention that Harry would be put into danger as well.

Moody seemed to notice her uncertainty. He said, "it's an covert job. Like all undercover agents, your family will be put under a protective detail, to ensure their safety. Will it be risk free, no, but we aim to keep every risk to the minimum."

Lily opened her mouth to speak, but Moody waved his hand. He said, "take the day to give me your answer. I want you to really think it through."

.

 _ **Ten hours ago**_

Peter Pettigrew wasn't having the best day. It had started going bad when he'd realised he'd mixed whites with blacks while doing laundry. Then he'd been late to his meeting with the police because his couldn't find his car keys.

No, his day wasn't going well at all. It was going terribly actually, and he hadn't even brought enough cash with him to pay for a few beers at the bar to help unwind.

Wandering down the pavement, Peter ran a hand through his hair, whistling under his breath. Straightening his tie, he untucked his shirt, letting out a sigh. He was ready to call it quits for the night.

"You okay Pete?"

Peter jumped. Turning, he found himself face to face with a shaggy haired man. Feeling his heart thumping against his chest, Peter felt the blood drain from his face.

"S-Sirius," he stuttered, taking a step back. Sirius was holding a folder in his hand, his lips pursued together. Holding the folder out to Peter, Sirius waited until Peter had opened the folder to speak.

"You see those pictures Pete?" He said, his voice eerily calm, "We had one of our guys take them. Of you. This is what he found."

Peter swallowed. There was a picture of him conversing with the police. There were even more of him meeting with members of another gang – The Death Eaters.

"It's not what you think." Peter squeaked, taking a few more steps back.

"Oh isn't it?" A new voice – Peter turned to find two more people wandering out of the shadows. "What are we thinking Padfoot?"

"I don't know Prongs," Sirius said, shrugging his shoulders. "It looks to me that Peter here has been playing informant."

"Well," The man named Prongs said, shaking his head, "that can't be right. Wormtail would never do something like that, would you Pete?"

The final man – a sandy blonde haired man with scars across his body, crossed his arms. He said, "Peter, I can't help in anyway. You know the code."

Peter closed his eyes and nodded. He did know the code, he was just hoping that maybe he'd be smart enough to break it without anyone catching on.

"Hey Peter," Prongs said, "Moony here has been telling us to go easy on you, to make it quick. But Padfoot and I… We don't like that plan. So we're going to do it the way we kill all the other informants."

Sirius grinned, "Slowly."

Prongs let out a laugh, "Hope you enjoy swimming Wormtail. We've got a session booked just for you."

Peter let out a cry, before the impact hit him in the head, and everything went black.


End file.
